I didn't intend on commenting on President Bush's inagural address (which was brilliant by the way) but one review of it had such a profound statement that I could not resist.
StrangeWomenLyingInPonds (hat-tip Instapundit) outlines the case that Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democarcy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny & Terror was the inspiration behind Bush's speech. They link to an NRO piece which discusses the meeting President Bush had with Mr. Sharansky:
..."I told the president, 'In spite of all the polls warning you that talking about spreading democracy in the Middle East might be a losing issue — despite all the critics and the resistance you faced — you kept talking about the importance of free societies and free elections. You kept explaining that democracy is for everybody. You kept saying that only democracy will truly pave the way to peace and security. You, Mr. President, are a dissident among the leaders of the free world.'"
It is a brave new world when a Republican President invokes the spirit of FDR, JFK and MLK and the Democrats are taking the isolationist position. Why is it so hard to believe that the rest state of humanity is freedom, a freedom given not by governments, but by God.
I will certainly have to read Mr. Sharansky's book.
Update: I like PowerLine's take as well:
The MSM, I expect, will rip this uncompromising and single-minded assertion of our values and ideals. But that's because it won't acknowledge that we're at war. Those who know that we are will welcome the echoes of Churchill and Kennedy as just the kind of rhetoric demanded by the times. Thus, who are unsure are a step closer to understanding, if they were fortunate to hear the president's clarion call.
